Military Justice

Military justice is changing rapidly due to both domestic and international influences. This book explains what is happening and why.

Military Justice: Cases and Materials gives teachers a new and powerful tool to introduce students to military law while deepening their understanding of criminal law and procedure, comparative law, international law, and constitutional law. At a time when the tempo of military operations around the world seems to increase constantly and high-profile courts-martial dominate the headlines, this book gives students and teachers unprecedented the tools needed to analyze, understand, and evaluate worldwide military justice. With prosecutions arising from prisoner abuse, atrocities against civilians, and servicemembers' opposition to ongoing wars, the military justice system now has a prominence unmatched since the Vietnam era. This higher profile for courts-martial, combined with the difficult and fundamental legal issues raised by the military commissions, suggests that military courses will now be in great demand. This casebook provides the text for such a course. Its coverage of the U.S. court-martial and other systems of military criminal law provides a framework through which students can explore the role and operation of military justice within a democratic society. In an era of worldwide deployments, multi- national operations, and global terrorism, this book illuminates the interconnectedness of military justice systems through a far- ranging collection of judicial opinions, statutes, regulations, commentaries, and scholarship. While the materials presented draw heavily from the United States, most chapters also present materials from other jurisdictions to enhance students' appreciation of both the unique American experience and the availability of alternative approaches to military discipline, accountability, and punishment. International norms are also examined. Part I, Foundations, sets the stage by exploring the origins and purposes of military justice, pointing out the many sources of law that govern this area, analyzing the u

Another Kind of Justice is the first historical survey of Canadian military law, providing insights into military justice in Canada, the purpose of military law, and the level of legal professionalism within the Canadian military. After delving into the British roots of Canadian military law, Chris Madsen brings his discussion up to date with analysis of recent sexual discrimination cases and the Somalia inquiry. He explains how the law has served a strictly functional purpose in maintaining discipline, and demonstrates how it claims its legitimacy and distinct status in relation to civil law.

This book presents an accessible and honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of military justice around the world, with particular emphasis on the US, UK, and Canada.

"The interaction between military and civilian courts, the political power that legal prerogatives can provide to the armed forces, and the difficult process civilian politicians face in reforming military courts remain glaringly under-examined. This book fills a gap in existing scholarship by providing a theoretically rich, global examination of the operation and reform of military courts in democracies. Drawing on a newly-created global dataset, it examines trends across states and over time. Combined with deeper qualitative case studies, the book presents clear and well-justified findings that will be of interest to scholars and policymakers working in a variety of fields"--

"This pamphlet contains a short history of the preparation of the Manual ... together with brief discussions of the legal and legislative considerations involved in the drafting of the book."--Pref.